Ask Leo! #440 – Just how many bits do you need? Software Rot, Emptying the Trash and more…

The Ask Leo! Newsletter

*** Featured

64-bit and 32-bit: Which Do You Want? Which Do You
Have?

The difference between 32-bit and 64-bit computers and versions of Windows
remains a point of very common confusion.

It's really no surprise because the concept is actually fairly geeky and not
something a typical computer user should need to worry about.

And yet, it turns out that it's important to realize that there is a
difference. When installing software, including the operating system itself,
using the wrong flavor can lead to anything from decreased performance to
installations that don't work at all.

It's also important to know what you already have, if for no other reason
than to be able to select appropriate software and possibly system updates in
the future.

Do you wonder if you should empty your trash or turn off Network Discovery
for security? Afraid to install lots of programs or use a banking app? Want to
make your public hotspot safer? All that and more in this Answercast from Ask
Leo!

Does turning off remote access keep me safer?
Turning off remote assistance is an incremental improvement. But it is a very
small increment in a much larger puzzle.
Continue reading: Does
turning off remote access keep me safer?
http://ask-leo.com/C6403

Does cleaning cookies force me to re-verify my bank
login?
It's a pretty quick process to identify all the internet domains that need to
be listed in CCleaner as exceptions - so that you can easily login to your
favorite sites.
Continue reading:
Does cleaning cookies force me to re-verify my bank login?
http://ask-leo.com/C6407

SSID is an acronym for Service Set IDentifier. More
commonly, it's the "network name" that's assigned to a Wi-Fi
wireless access point.

The SSID is typically broadcast by a Wi-Fi access point to announce its
presence and to allow computer users to identify the access point and network
that they might then connect to. Broadcasting the SSID is actually optional and
can be used to keep a network from appearing in "nearby networks" types of
lists.

The only thing I would say about the SSID is that hackers target routers
with default SSIDs because they assume that if you haven't changed such a
simple thing, you will most likely not have changed passwords either. As long
as you've changed your passwords to something far from default and a strong
password (if you're not sure, there's multiple password strength meters online)
you should be fine, but it's always worth remembering and it's nice to
customize the SSID anyway.

Great article, Leo, as always. But a few things I've found via Win8 vs Win7
et al that you might not have bumped into yet.

Windows 8 Store apps (those that are represented by tiles in the Windows
home page) only run as full screen or a fixed size "snapped" to another app. So
this means two things: either you have one app visible or two. Period. And
there's no options to resize them. So, for example, if you want to run Skype
and Outlook and see both at the same time, you have very few options. For this
you probably want to jump into the desktop and use the traditional version of
these apps--but you'll have to find the "desktop" version of Skype, as the
version that comes with Windows 8 is a Windows Store app only.

You'll also have to deal with the fact that even running Classic Shell
(which I rely on completely) the charms menu will pop up when your mouse hits
the side of the screen. You can cancel that behavior in the configuration of
Classic Shell.

If you don't run Classic Shell and you're not using a touch-based computer
you are hosed.

For me the good news is similar to what you found: under the hood Win8 is a
great OS, fast, light, and robust. The UI, however, will drive you crazy if
you've used Windows for any time at all. (Frankly, having used Win8RT on my
Acer tablet for several months now, I'm less than awed with the touch
experience compared to an iPad, but that's just my opinion).

*** Thoughts and Comments

For the past 10 years I've owned the domain ask-leo.com, and that's where
Ask Leo! has lived it's happy little life.

Last year I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up askleo.com (the one
without the dash). Since I got it I've had it simply redirecting to ask-leo.com
so there was no real difference, and no matter what you used you got to where
you thought you were going.

As of yesterday I turned that part off. askleo.com is where the new Ask Leo!
will live.

Now, before you run out there to poke around (and you're welcome to do so),
a couple of notes:

The look is not the new Ask Leo! design. The current look is
simply me selecting and tweaking a Wordpress theme to look kinda-sorta enough
like Ask Leo! that I'd be OK with it going public. It's actually the same look
as answercast.askleo.com and newsletter.askleo.com.

Not everything is there. In fact, not everything will be there,
but that's another discussion. For now a few articles have been duplicated out
there to get a feel for how things will work. (The impact on how we put
together the newsletter is pretty dramatic, for example.)

It's possible ... likely even ... that new articles will soon be posted
only on the new site beginning in the very near future. That shouldn't affect
you, as links will still link and the newsletter will still point to all the
right places. It's just that the edges might be a little rough.

I do have a new look-and-feel being designed as we speak, so don't worry if
the font's too small or the site doesn't look pretty enough, that should also
change in the coming weeks.

Honestly I'm very excited to see this transition happen. While its
mostly about making Ask Leo! a more professional looking site and helpful
experience, the changes that you don't see, the changes on the back end that
affect how we put things together are pretty darned cool as well.

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